Google Glass Will Fit Into Your Energy Drink-Fueled Lifestyle

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Google Glass Will Fit Into Your Energy Drink-Fueled Lifestyle

Extreme high fives for the Project Glass extreme team.

Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

Google's augmented reality glasses, Google Glass, haven't been much more than vapor for the past few months, but at Google I/O Wednesday, co-founder Sergey Brin put them front and center in an extreme sports-fueled technology demo that was the hit of the show. Besides seeing a full battery of the headsets used in a skydiving stunt, the world learned much more about Google Glass – including information on how to purchase them.

Brin "interrupted" the I/O keynote to demo a Google+ Hangout with some of his extreme sports friends. The skydivers leapt out of a dirigible wearing hardcore, highly embellished versions of the Google Glass headsets, and parachuted on to the roof of Moscone West, the location of the keynote. After a few more stunts that included rappelling down the side of the building, riding bikes and multiple high fives (each elicited roars from the audience), Brin brought the Project Glass team up on stage to talk about the headset.

The team behind Project Glass.

Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

Lead designer Isabell Olsson showed off Google Glass as it's being designed for consumer use – a lot more sophisticated-looking and less bulky than what the skydivers were wearing. Olsson told the audience that the headsets were designed to place information close to your eyes without actually creating an obtrusive distraction. Olsson also said that the headset is designed to be incredibly lightweight: “We want to empower people to use technology naturally,” she says. “We wanted to pack all this amazing technology into this product, but if it’s not ridiculously light, it doesn’t belong on your face."

The lightness of the glasses was noted by former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom when he tried on the headset during a taping of his show. Newsom told Wired: "You can easily forget you have them on."

The prototypes worn during the X Games-esque product demo had microphones, small speakers, gyroscopes and multiple radios for data communication. The headsets were controlled via a touchpad that resides on the right arm of each device. Olsson noted that Google Glass needs to be super strong and sturdy, so one can go running or play tennis with it. Or jump out of a blimp.

This isn't the first time Glass has been put to the test via outdoor activities. A video appeared on Google+ in May that demonstrated the headset's ability to stay on someone's head while they leapt into the sky.

Sergey Brin returned to the stage and told the audience about the demo: "Capturing images, videos and sharing video, that’s only a part of what a wearable computer can do." He continued: "Why are we showing you this kind of utlity? There are three reasons: We just found it incredibly compelling, the second is it’s one of the things we can show you because you all can’t experience what it’s like, and third, we’re a pretty small team and we’ve only had so much time to try various kinds of functionality."

Perhaps the most important bit of information to come out of the demo was that developers attending I/O could pre-order a Glass Explorer Edition. For the low price of $1,500, developers can have their very own Project Glass prototype headset delivered to them in early 2013.

No word on if the device ships with a case of Red Bull for extreme testing.